STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Pennsylvania State University will pay $703,742 in back wages and interest and enter into a conciliation agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve alleged gender pay discrimination against female employees, the Department of Labor said Wednesday in a press release.
Based on a compliance review by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the agency found that, since at least July 1, 2020, Penn State allegedly paid 65 female employees less than men holding similar positions in facilities operations and maintenance, extension education and senior administration jobs.
This also included some female faculty in research professor roles at the College of Engineering and the Applied Research Laboratory and some female faculty in teaching professor roles at the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, the department said.
“The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ensures that federal contractors provide workplaces free from discrimination," said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program Acting Director Michele Hodge. "Penn State must make certain its employment practices comply with all federal law, including those that seek to eliminate gender-based barriers to equal employment."
In addition to paying the back wages, Penn State agreed to take steps to make sure its compensation practices and policies are free from discrimination, the department said.
The university’s actions violated Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.
“Employers that hold federal contracts must provide all employees with equal employment opportunities and audit their employment processes to make certain no barriers to equal employment exist,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Samuel B. Maiden in Philadelphia.
The state’s largest public university, Penn State is among the nation’s biggest and best-known universities. In 2024, Penn State received more than $178 million in payments from federal contracts with agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NASA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Departments of Defense and Agriculture.
